Sunnybank SHS
Rugby League

It has been a big month for Rugby League at Sunnybank High, with teams in all grades beginning or continuing in their respective competitions. In the Year Eights the 'Firsts' have continued their strong form in the elite Broncos Challenge competition. In the past month the boys have defeated Mountain Creek 36-20, Keebra Park 14-12 and Coombabah 58-6. The match against Keebra Park at Southport was particularly pleasing as Keebra Park were previously undefeated, this now leaves Sunnybank as the only undefeated team in the competition at the top of the ladder.

The Year Eight 'Seconds' Team have kicked off their season in the District Competition with strong victories against Park Ridge 36-4 and Macgregor 42-0. The boys are coming along well and are starting to produce some great team play.

The Year Nines look to be the big improvers thus far with two big wins in the District competition to start the season. They look like they could go all the way through to the Metropolitan finals and also qualify for the end of season Broncos Challenge finals if they continue with their current form.

The Year Tens have also had a promising start to the season with two solid victories and they will also be eying off the Metropolitan Finals later in the season.

The Opens 'Firsts' season kicked off in successful fashion with a win against local rivals Cavendish road, however the last two matches have seen the boys defeated by the very strong Keebra Park and Palm Beach Currumbin. This week the boys travel to the North side of town to take on Wavell. With a fully fit team the 'Firsts' have the ability to be a very good team come finals time, but unfortunately their has been a real struggle with injuries this season.

The Opens 'Seconds' have also been playing very well of late with a victory against St. Thomas More College 30-12 in a Trial match which will hopefully become an annual event. The match prepared the boys well for the Karawatha District gala day which the boys also won. This moves the team onto the Metropolitan finals later in the season.

All the best of luck to all teams for their games this week, and we will be back soon with further updates as the season progresses.

Mr D.Petrie - Rugby League Coordinator

The Sunnybank High Year Eight Team travelled to Southport to take on Keebra Park in Round Four of the Broncos Challenge 'Renouf Shield'. The boys come away with the result 14-12 in a game that was played in horrendous conditions.

The game was a match up of first versus second on the ladder with both teams yet to lose a game coming into the match. Sunnybank will now take top spot on the ladder for the moment, with some very tough matches yet to come.

The Sunnybank team led by as much as 14-0 and could have sealed the match on four separate occasions, however with two knock ons over the line, one held up decision and another disallowed try for an obstruction the Sunnybank side kept giving Keebra a chance of victory. A try to Keebra Park with five minutes remaining, followed by another one minute from fulltime had the Coaching Staff and supporters very nervous, however the boys held out the last set of six in defence and took the points.

A big thank you must go out to the parents who continually travel around South East QLD to support the boys. Your support is very much appreciated.

The team will face Coombabah next week in a home match at Langlands Park. All parents and supporters are encouraged to get to the match and cheer the boys on.

Yesterday (28/5/09) the Sunnybank High Open Two's competed in the Karawatha District Gala Day. The team played a total of three games on the day, winning all matches. The undefeated record for the day left Sunnybank as Premiers in the 'Round Robin' competition.

The coaching staff were very proud of the boys efforts and are sure there would have been some very tired and sore bodies come Thursday night.

The team will now move on to the Metropolitan Finals where their next opponent is still unknown.

The Sunnybank High Year Eight Team made the long trek to the Sunshine Coast to take on Mountain Creek in Round Three of the Broncos Challenge 'Renouf Shield'.

Sunnybank won the match 36-20, however after leading the match 36-10 with only a few minutes remaining, some late lapses in defence left the boys a little unhappy with their performance.

The boys will now take on Keebra Park at Southport Rugby League Club next Tuesday night in Round Four of the competition, which will be the boys biggest test to date.

The Sunnybank Year Eight team took on Palm Beach Currumbin in Round Two of the Renouf Shield. Palm Beach jumped to an early 12-0 advantage and the Sunnybank players looked like they were still thinking about their Period Eight Maths Class. However, the poor start was the wake up call the boys needed as Sunnybank fought back to 12-8 at half time with two unconverted tries.

The second half started well with Sunnybank scoring their third unanswered try, this time converting to take a 14-12 advantage. To Palm Beach Currumbin's credit they fought back to take the lead 18-14 with a very well worked try.

Thomas Sili touched down for Sunnybank after a great backline movement to level the game 18-18 with 11 minutes remaining and for a few minutes the game hung in the balance. Sunnybank finished with two very good converted tries, one an 80 metre effort from the scrum from Junior Taefu.

Credit must go to the Sunnybank boys defence on their goal line, as with plenty of dropped ball they were forced to defend for long periods and for a majority of the game did a great job.

Congratulations to the team on the win, they will now have next Tuesday night off, before taking on Wavell on the 19th May at Shaw Sportz.

On Wednesday 29/4/09 the Sunnybank High Open Rugby League team took on Cavendish Road High in Round One of the Langer Trophy(Super Six competition). The Sunnybank team hung in for an 18-16 victory in a very hard fought contest. Sunnybank took a two try advantage late in the match to lead 18-6 and looked like they would go on with the job only for Cavendish Road to fight back to within two points with a few minutes remaining.

The defensive effort that the team displayed for the majority of the match will give the team plenty of confidence heading into their next match as with very little ball due to many unforced areas and a lop sided penalty count the boys 'stuck solid' in defence to record the victory.

Sunnybank 18 (Tries: Kennedy Lauti, Naatan Menzies, Mason Pakuru Conversions: Ryan Mouque [3/3]) Cavendish Road 16

The next match for the Opens team will be against Keebra Park at Southport Tigers Rugby League Club on Wednesday 13th May. All parents are encouraged to attend the match and cheer the team on.

The Sunnybank High Year Eight Rugby League team took on Forest Lake High in Round One of the Renouf Shield Broncos Challenge. The Sunnybank Team put in a very pleasing display winning the match 58 - 4. Simi Fatafehi was the top try scorer for Sunnybank, crossing for three tries, while a number of his team mates crossed for doubles. The kicking duties were shared with Junior Taefu kicking five goals, while Colin Masefield added two.

The win was a whole team effort and the school is very proud of the boys. However, some crucial lapses in defence will have to be addressed as the boys will face a very good side when they take on Palm Beach Currumbin High in Round Two. The match against Palm Beach-Currumbin will be at Langlands Park on Tuesday May 5th kicking off at 4:00pm. All parents and supporters are encouraged to get to the game to cheer on the boys.

On Tuesday 24th March the Year Eight team kicked off their season with the goal being to qualify for the Broncos Challenge for season 2009. The boys played some very entertaining Rugby League with the ball and also defended well all day. Their outstanding efforts have seen the boys qualify for the Broncos challenge where the season will kick off in Term Two. Visit the website again soon where we will attach the season draw. Congratulations boys!

On Thursday 19th March Sunnybank State High School held its third annual Primary School 7's Rugby League Tournament. The Primary schools that participated in the day were Acacia Ridge, Browns Plains, Islamic College, Greenbank, Kruger, Sunnybank, Warrigal Road, Inala, The Murri School and Richlands East. The day was another great success with the level of play from all the boys being very impressive.

After some very close and intense round matches the semi final rounds were decided with Sunnybank v Browns Plains and Kruger v Inala. Browns Plains were just a little to strong for the local Sunnybank boys winning the match by two tries. Whilst semi final number two ended up a draw after the normal playing period so the golden try rule come into effect to decide the match. Kruger were lucky enough to post the first try in extra time and won through to the Grand Final.

The Grand Final was a very entertaining match with the result not being known until one minute from time when Kruger 'crashed' over for a try to give them a two try advantage which was enough to take out the Grand Final.

Congratulations to all teams and in particular the coaches, managers and parents of all the Primary Schools that make days like this possible. Also, congratulations and thank you to all the boys in the Senior Rugby League Programme who helped organise and run the tournament. Your Refereeing, water running, coaching, cooking, time keeping and scoring was much appreciated.

On Thursday June 19th six Sunnybank High students from the Rugby League Excellence Program had the opportunity to interview Brisbane Broncos head coach for 2009, Ivan Henjak on ABC radio.

The students were thankful for their opportunity to put forward their thoughts and enjoyed the off air chat they were able to have with Ivan.

We here at Sunnybank would like to thank ABC Radio for the opportunity and especially thank Ivan Henjak and the Brisbane Broncos for their time.

On Wednesday June 18th the Sunnybank High Open team were matched up against Padua College in what proved to be a very physical match played in wet conditions.

Padua were the first team to post points five minutes into the match when a Sunnybank mistake gifted Padua the ball, the score line after the conversion read 6 - 0. The next 10 minutes saw plenty of commitment from both sides as the wet conditions allowed for little footwork from the attacking team and plenty of bruising defence from the defensive team.

Sunnybank scored with 10 minutes remaining in the half and posted another four pointer with a few minutes remaining to take the lead at half time 12 - 6.

Just after half time one of the tries of the season was put together with an inspiring bust through the defensive line from Luke Page ending in an inside ball to John Puna who showed a clean pair of heels to sprint the last 40 metres to score. (All thanks to Mr. Way for the sprint coaching there).

That try made the score line 18 - 6. From here Sunnybank completed only a minimal amount of their sets in attack but all credit must go to the boys defence as they held Padua out and posted another try to make the score 24 - 6.

Sunnybank now move on towards the SE QLD Arrive Alive Cup Quarter Finals, with their opponent not yet known.

Last week from the 15th May to the 18th May the Queensland Secondary Schools Rugby League State Titles took place in Ipswich. Sunnybank High had a very big involvement in the carnival with 10 of the 20 members of the Metropolitan West team from Sunnybank High.

It is a very demanding task to play four games of Rugby League in four days, but all boys represented their school and their Region with pride and are to be commended on their efforts. Well done boys.

The highest individual honour that an individual can have at the conclusion of the carnival is to be selected in the State team and Luke Page was fortunate enough to be selected in the team.

This selection is just reward for Luke as he has shown a great dedication to his training and playing commitments this year and the Sunnybank staff wish Luke all the best as he takes on NSW later in the season.

The Sunnybank High Rugby League Programme of Excellence is proud to welcome Mindworx on board as our new major sponsor. Mindworx is a recruitment company who specalise in the technology sector. The generosity from the people at Mindworx is much appreciated by all of the Rugby League staff at Sunnybank, as their sponsorship now further enhances the opportunity for all students in the Excellence Programme to fully develop their Rugby League potential.

The staff at Sunnybank look forward to maintaining and developing this relationship for many years to come.

Last night 23/4/08 the Sunnybank High open boys made it 3 wins from as many starts in the Gee Shield, with a 23 -12 victory over Toowoomba. It was a commanding performance in a five tries to two display, but unfortunately the goal kicking radar was a little out with the boys only landing one conversion.

The win comes on the back of two previous wins to start the competition against Palm Beach Currrumbin and Forest Lake. The boys form in the Forest Lake game was very 'patchy', with all boys well below their best against a very committed and much improved Forest Lake team. The lethargic performance had the coaching staff on edge for this weeks match, but to the boys credit the 'real' Sunnybank showed up.

Last nights match showed a great display of teamwork, as in both attack and defence the workload was shared evenly between the backs and the forwards. If all players show this sign of commitment in the coming weeks all looks good for the bigger games later in the season.

Try scorers for Sunnybank against Toowoomba were Titako Sili (two), John Puna, Junior Leaupepe and Kennedy Lauti all grabbed a try each. John Puna kicked the only goal, one from one, whilst Luke Atherden landed a cheeky drop goal a minute out from full time.

Photos from the Sunnybank v St.John's College (Woodlawn) game are now available (click here) to view. The game was played as a trial match between the two schools at the end of Term One in Lismore, NSW. In a very entertaining match, St.John's put together a very strong side and won the clash of the City v Country. The match was played in good spirit and it is hoped this relationship formed between the schools will continue into the future.

A big congratulations goes out to the Sunnybank High Open schoolboys who have been chosen to represent Metropolitan West at the State Titles in Ipswich this May. The boys chosen were Luke Page, Ethan Tafili, Namu Uitime, Kennedy Lauti, John Puna, Richard Salu, Ryan Mouque, Junior Leaupepe, James Johnson, Ben Iosefa & Titako Sili.

Well done on this achievement boys and all the very best for the state carnival in your endeavours to make the state team.

Yesterday the 17th March saw Sunnybank High hold its second annual Primary School 7's tournament. Unfortunately the weather played its part in the day, with much of the day played in the rain. While this dampened the spirits of some of the staff and organisers, the students seemed to revel in the conditions.

Teams that competed in the day were: Acacia Ridge, Sunnybank, Greenbank, Inala, Richlands East, Seville Road, Macgregor and the Murri School. All teams played within the spirit of the game and despite the conditions played some very skilful and highly entertaining Rugby League in their three games each.

After the round games the top two teams from each pool crossed over to play each other in the Semi Finals for a spot in the Grand Final. The first Semi Final saw Acacia Ridge vs Inala. This was a hard fought match which went down to the wire with Inala finally prevailing 12-8 and booking a spot in the Grand Final.

The second Semi Final was between Greenbank and Richlands East. Richlands East looked strong early before Greenbank finished the game stronger, giving them a Grand Final spot also.

The Grand Final was played between Greenbank and Inala and quiet fittingly the sun even decided to shine through for the big game. Greenbank had all the running early skipping out to a 16-0 lead, looking like they would run away with the game. However, Inala refused to give in, scoring two quick tries of their own. However it was not enough, with Greenbank scoring another try and sealing the victory 20-8.

Player of the Grand Final was Jake Hargreaves from Greenbank who had some strong showings throughout the entire day. Congratulations Jake.

A big thank you goes out to all of the coaches and players of all schools as without your time and commitment these events simply do not take place. We look forward to your participation again next season. All the best for your upcoming Rugby League seasons.

The Sunnybank Open Boys Team played their first match of the season against Forest Lake on Wednesday (February 13th). The game was a trial match in preparation for the teams Broncos Challenge qualifying day next Wednesday (February 20th ). For the record, Sunnybank won the match 28-0, in a 7 tries to nil performance with no kicks at goal taken. The match saw a lot of dropped ball due to the wet conditions, but the way the Sunnybank players finished the match off was quiet pleasing.

If the boys can show the same type of commitment next Wednesday, all looks good for a promising 2008 season.

Sunnybank is proud to accept the 2007 Secondary Schools Rugby League Volunteers of the Year award from the Australian Rugby League Foundation. This has come about from the involvement of the students and staff from the Sports Specialisation Rugby League programme in a range of activities within the community, such as the Year Seven Carnival and refereeing of junior fixtures.

Today the Sunnybank High Year 9 team was defeated in the Metropolitan Grand Final by Cavendish Road SHS 22-8. Sunnybank led the game early in the first half 8-6 and looked like going on with the job. However a try on halftime saw Cavendish Road lead 12-8 at the break. From here Cavendish Road went on with it to run out eventual winners. It was a disappointing end to the season with the Sunnybank boys excellent effort and commitment marred by too many dropped balls and too many unfinished plays with the line wide open. Coach Mr. Jassy Bhullar reflected on the game with these comments 'we made far more clean line breaks then the opposition but our inability to finish off these breaks cruelled us in the finish'. Congratulations go to Cavendish Road on their win. Overall, it was a big effort by the boys to reach this stage and everyone at Sunnybank High is very proud of your efforts this season.

Congratulations to the Year Nine boys team who are through to the Metropolitan Grand Final. They will play Cavendish Road SHS on Wednesday 12/09/07 at Kougari Oval ,Wynnum. Kick off is at 11:45am. All parents, family and friends are encouraged to come along and support the team if possible.

Congratulations to the Year Nine boys team who defeated St. Peter Claver 18-12 in Metropolitan West Quarter Finals yesterday. It was a great team effort from the boys and they will now progress onto the Semi Final stage, with the opposition yet to be announced. Good luck for the next game boys as you go in search of the Metropolitan West title.

It was a mixed year for the Open Boys, with some very good wins coming in between some disappointing loses. The Open Boys once again qualified for the Super Six competition, which we have been a part of since it's inception, an achievement we are still very proud of. At the conclusion of the Super Six competition we faced off against Wavell SHS in the Arrive Alive SE QLD Quater Finals. In an entertaining affair we were defeated by Wavell SHS 30-22. It was a great team effort by the boys with injuries to key players making it difficult to name a squad of 17 for the game earlier in the week. But to the boys credit they gave their best effort right to the final whistle and should be proud of their efforts.